Has Shopping Become More Complicated?

According to a McKinsey & Company report titled ‘The Great Indian Bazaar: Organized Retail Comes of Age in India’, organized retail in India is expected to increase from 5 per cent of the total market in 2008 to 14 – 18 per cent of the total retail market and reach US$ 450 billion by 2015. Indians are shopping more and are shopping differently. So has shopping become more complicated? No, but the shopper has.

As Indian consumers become more secure of their financial future, their demands are becoming more and more complex. Shopping has become more comprehensive. Consumers these days are spoilt for choice. The entry of foreign brands has induced competition and consumers have become highly value conscious. This explains the explosion of malls, hypermarkets, department stores, and convenience stores.

Increased disposable incomes and the attitudinal change towards shopping becoming an activity involving the whole family, have altered the very nature of shopping, which has become synonymous with entertainment. As a response to this, retailers have changed their strategies and have moved to providing experiences as opposed to products.

Another major development in the urban middle class has been the rise of DIG households. This has led to a significant increase in the delivery segment. Retailers offer free home delivery options to incentivize purchase. Even the local Kirana stores are making shopping increasingly easy to keep up with the modern retail formats.

What is satisfied by delivery [convenience] is also addressed by easy financing. Indian consumers today do not need to have cash in hand to shoppe. A plethora of financing options through easy EMIs and credit cards is encouraging people to buy more and buy easily.

The Indian market continues to be the most promising in the world and retail is making it look more glamorous than ever before!